scatter_wrx

Just interested if anyone here has setup a wireless network & if there are any operational issues??

The setup i have is currently there are 2 pc's connected peer-2-peer (about 2 meters apart). The main requirement for networking is to run a business application database (the program\data files are on one pc & the 2nd pc maps a drive to the shared folder on the first pc & runs the app).

Need now to connect up to the internet, so have got broadband enabled. Originally i was going to run cat5 cabling from the 2 pc's to an adsl router, which is in the next room, but because of the building structure (thick concrete walls, no ceiling cavity, no carpet) running the cable wasn't as easy (or tidy) as i first thought.

Now thinking of sticking to wireless pci cards in the computers & doing it this way, but just wondered if this would be practical in this situation?

Has anyone done a similar setup? Any operational issues (i.e. loss of networking, etc). My main conern is the signal dropping out & causing some sort of database corruption?

There is line of sight between the 2 pc's & the wireless adsl router (netgear dg834g). So no problem with the signal having to get through thick concrete walls!

Cheers,
/sp

JackClark

You can't beat cable. But, I don't see any problem, but would advise turning on WEP as your minimal security measure.

angrynorth

My new (temporary) neighbour has

HomerJunior

iTrader: (1)

I have set a wireless network. Everything is fine provided you are using it in a relatively business free environment. If you have passwords for logging on, log on scripts, group policies that need to be applied to the machine then most of the commercially available stuff is useless. If you do not have any of these concerns then I have used both Buffalo and DLink and both seem to be fine. If not the nCisco is the only way to go (very expensive though! )


I currently run a laptop with a wireless card that sits downstairs and an access point that is upstairs. Ocassionally the access point needs to be rebooted (as does any IT kit ) but by and large it is ok. I should also mention that I do not run any security as anything more than WEP encryption causes massive compatibility issues. I speak with some authority as I was asked to implement it for our company and if you want any security then you have to pay for it (ie Cisco).

The thing to do is to try it without security and then keeps increasing it till you find you have an issue. You may find that everytihng is fine though. Make sure all drivers and firmware is the most up to date as possible and dive in!

Good luck!

Fatman

As mentioned above you can't beat cable if it's an option. If it's not an option, and you've not bought wireless kit yet then definitely consider the 802.11G (54Mbit/s) flavour. Apart from being faster it also allows you to use newer, and more secure (than WEP), WPA encryption. It's only a little dearer than 802.11b (11Mbit/sec) kit.

scatter_wrx

Cable is an option, but a big pain in the a*se one to run the cable & make it look a decent job! I'd prefer wireless if its viable.

The setup is only a small business environment (2 pc's). No network authentication, logon scripts, etc to be concerned with.

I bought a netgear dg834 originally, as was planning to run cables. But I'll swop it with my home netgear dg834g wireless router (don't use the wireless bit at home).

Anyone recommend a wireless pci card (not pcmcia or usb)? I was looking at the netgear ones to go with the netgear router, but they seem to have a really poor write up.

Belkin or Linksys???

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

I use the netgear DG834G and a netgear wireless USB adapter in another PC. The wireless PCI card would probably be better. Works fine. Signal is good through walls with this kit, one of the best, but as you say, speeds are not the best. However it seems to work fine for me as a network between the 2 desktops. If your dbase files are large in size you'll be in for a lengthy wait usin any wireless kit. The best thruputs are about 13-18mbps, so a 250mb file would take 2mins to copy from 1 device to another at best. Using a different make of pci card wont help you. Its the router's wireless point that determines the source speed of the transfer.

Buffalo and Linksys seem to be leaders in wireless thruput.

DrEvil

Linksys are s'posed to be very good.

I've got the belkin 54Mbps version, its ok, not the greatest of ranges for the signal, but ok. supports WPA variants and other good security features.

In the systems I've used ASUS wi-fi PCI cards, which seem fairly reliable.

Rgds, Alex

scatter_wrx

Had another thought on this - i'll test out with the current setup of the 2 pc's networked together with a crossover cable for running the application & then stick in the wireless card to do internet stuff. Hopefully this will work!

Cheers everyone!

scatter_wrx

Stuck the wireless kit in yesterday & it went fairly well.

Left the 2 pc's wired together by a crossover cable. Stuck a linksys wireless G card in the main pc & plugged the netgear dg834G wireless router in. PC found the router ok with no security enabled, so then configured:

- MAC access control list
- No SSID broadcast
- WPA-PSK encryption

All worked ok until i rebooted the pc & found that after a reboot, it couldn't locate the wireless network. Turned SSID broadcast back on & it all worked ok!

I doubt anyone will be "war chalking" near the office (in a rural area) so am not too concerned. Even though they can find the network, i doubt they'll crack the WPA-PSK key in a hurry (used a 256-bit key generator).

Next step is to see if Windows ICS will work so i can connect the 2nd pc to the internet without buying another card?

Thanks to those who contributed on this thread.

durleydude

Im trying to set up a wireless network on 2 desktops an 1 laptop. Using the afforementioned net gear router/modem/accesspoint, an asus cards. also got broadband (bt). Went through all the wizards but had no joy atall. I tried creating a workgroup but had much difficulty in accessing other pc.s on the network. Any hints or tips on where i could be going wrong ? ...PLEASE !!!!!

anoble1

durleydude - I am assuming that once all PC's/Laptops have authenticated and connected to the access point that all PC's either receive an IP address or you have configured static IP's (in the same subnet) on all devices.

Can you ping all PC's? If so, have you shared a folder on the harddisks and tried mapping a drive etc? Make sure your guest accounts are enabled on your PC's, I think by default they are disabled.